On to the ferry and up to the decks. Plenty of space available and quite a few snack bars. We got some ice cream and, since she was feeling better, Alice got a sandwich and a slushy. The four hour trip was unremarkable and Alice slept through much of it.
We arrived in Ireland a bit after 6:00 to sunshine and warm temperatures! The road was pretty good through the countryside with lots of scenic views of fields and cows and sheep and more cows. We passed several towns that looked pretty new, then started to head into Waterford.
Town itself...

So today after a full Irish breakfast, Gord and I set off on the M9 for a short drive to Waterford. Yes..as in Waterford Crystal. Mostly this highway is recessed below level but occasionally we were able to see the small farms and low mountains as we sped along. We saw again sheep and dairy cattle farms. The yellow crop proved to be rapeseed when viewed upclose.
As we neared Waterford, we met one of the two rivers, saw a magnificent suspension bridge cross it and further along found ourselves crossing to a city filled with Georgian...

27 Sep
Happy & anniversary to us!! An 8:00am start this morning for about a three hour trip Southeast to Waterford. About half way we made a quick stop arriving in Waterford about 11:00. We parked in front of Waterford Crystal and took the factory tour. There was a talk on the bus that a lot of Waterford Crystal, about 90 percent,is made in Eastern Europe. Due to financial problems ownership changed hands a couple of times. Now only special awards and commission pieces are actually made in Waterford. It was interesting to see the process...

What a huge travel day! We left our hotel in Newport, Wales this morning and drove through the most picture postcard perfect scenery and villages with names I won't even begin to try and spell. We have all been really impressed with how pretty Wales is. Along a lot of their median strips they have poppys, marigolds, cornflowers and other wild flowers growing which are so colourful and pretty. They do it to encourage bees to pollinate and produce honey.
We had a morning tea stop in a little village and then we drove on to Fishguard to catch...

Train trip to Dublin and the weather is starting to improve. No need for the (nearly worn out) puffer jacket. From the station to pick up our hire car and a drive to Tramore /Waterford. Made the mistake of choosing 'shortest' instead of 'fastest' on the GPS and ended up on every back road from here to Dublin. Took twice as long, a number of fights but in the end I'm sure it was better scenery than the motorway. I must admit we were both getting a bit concerned when it got to about 5 and we were still on this back road, with hardly a car in...

On the 10th we began exploring the far corners of Ireland with Mary and Eric. We traveled towards The Famine Ship (coffin ship) in Dunbordy http://www.dunbrody.com/, Hook Head Lighthouse (oldest one in the world), Loftus Hall (is it haunted ??), and ended our day with Maeve and Peter in the Waterford area.
Its just a beautiful area, and one of the SE coastlines.
We found the small communities very charming, cohesive and peaceful.
The roads are limited in size, but Mary and Eric traveled them so smoothly.

We enjoyed another beautiful drive today, this time along the coast to Dungarvan in the county of Waterford. We started out by taking the ferry to the little town of Passage East. We drove down the Copper Coast, this is one of the most scenic stretches of rugged coastline in Ireland. We made so many stops along the way to take pictures, it was amazing.
We did have a bit of rain that dampened the picture taking, I still managed to take over 400 of this incredible drive. Our last stop was the beautiful coastal town Dungarvan with a...

Off to kiss the Blarney Stone, or as they prefer to say, the Stone of Eloquence. Blarney is just north-west of the city of Cork. The original castle on the site dated back to 1200 but the current structure dates from 1446. There is Poison Garden which hosts a number of poisonous plants, including wolfsbane, mandrake, ricin, opium and cannabis. I didn't see any cannabis; it must have been harvested.
From Blarney we continued east to Waterford and our tour of the Waterford Crystal factory. Wikipedia tells us, "In January 2009 its Waterford...

Left Kilkenny this morning. Arrived in the
Charming Village of Lismore. Toured the
Gardens of Lismore Castle. It's a storybook
Castle with extensive acres of gardens
Unfortunately The Lord and Lady of the
Castle live there and weren't receiving
Guests. But the gardens were impressive.
Continued on to Blarney, where we
Stayed in a very nice B&B with a huge
Suite.
Found our way to a wonderful old Pub
Called Blair's Inn. Very friendly staff.
Charming old world atmosphere. Fire
Burning in the hearth. Ate the best
Corned beef in...

Arrived 9.45am at Waterford, the coach pulling up outside the Waterford Crystal Centre. As arranged by phone before leaving Wexford, Helen & John arrived just as we pulled up. Last time we met was at Katherine and Stephen's wedding in Brisbane, 2010. ( Katherine ~ AnneMarie ( O'Connor - my neice ) & John McIntosh )( Freda, my sister - O;Connor ). Only a short stopover in Waterford, we chose to head back to their house for morning tea and a catch up. Very enjoyable.A great couple and had a few laughs and light moments. Unfortunately,...

Waterford is Ireland’s oldest city, founded by the Vikings in 914 A.D. It became Ireland’s main seaport. From the 18th century to today, it is famous for its Waterford crystal. A tour of the Waterford Crystal factory and a purchase from the exquisite gift shop is a must on any trip to Ireland.
WATERFORD CASTLE
What better place to stay when visiting Waterford than Waterford Castle, located on a small island just outside the city with a car ferry running every 15 minutes to take you to and from. The hotel staff and management did everything...

What an absolutely glorious morning this morning....the best since we arrived in Ireland. The sun is shining and there isn't a breath of wind. No big breakfast for us this morning. We were up quite a while before Tom and Berengere so had a cuppa and I had some toast while we watched the Eagles game. Good win but no more footy for the Eagles this year as Richmond beat Sydney last night. It was then off to Waterford as there's a couple of the museums we still need to explore and we want to look for a little thank you for Tom. Before we left,...